Iowa State coaches, faculty and students say the ISU Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy Center is a unique perk for Cyclone athletics and the university community.

The center, located in the Lied Athletic/Recreation Facility is open to all students, faculty and staff but works mainly with athletes participating in the six sports housed at the rec center.

Athletic training facilities for other sports are located at the Olsen building, P.E. Building, Beyer Hall and Hilton Coliseum.

Jim Nespor, head physical therapist and athletic trainer at the center, said his duties vary. “I may help with athletic training events like track meets in this building,” he said.

He also supervises the student athletic trainers who work with athletes. “They all get treatment here,” he said. Nespor, who has been a trainer for 14 years, has helped many ISU students, faculty and staff needing orthopedic therapy, or bone and joint care.

“The No. 1 [injury] we see is knees,” he said. The injuries treated are often either sports or work related. Other frequent injuries include those to ankles, shoulders and backs. He said the student body is active, so you see a lot of sports-related injuries even with nonvarsity athletes.

Steve Lynn, head men’s track coach, said because injuries are a fact of life in athletics, Nespor and the center have been helpful, especially with rehabilitation from a serious injury and preventative medicine. “Jim also helps us greatly with orthopedics,” he said.

However, Nespor said the most rewarding aspect of his job is the focus of the center: helping people get better so they can return to sports or work.

“That’s one of our big goals — that they don’t have to come back for the same thing,” he said.

Although some return with recurrent injuries, especially ankle and knee sprains, Nespor said. “We hope we don’t see it a lot, but sure, it occasionally happens.”